11/25/2021
Hey followers and friends!
Happy Thanksgiving to family and friends south of the border!
This is the final instalment of the "Dumbest things in Golf" written originally by Michael Johnson, contributing author of Golf Digest. I hope you have enjoyed the three instalments; if you missed either of the first two, you could see them on my FB page.
Enjoy the content, fellowship, or the chance to win some free golf swag on occasion? Follow this page if you do, and as always, keep it in the short stuff!
1. Having to play a ball from a divot in the fairway
Yeah, I know, play it from where it lies, but when you have ripped the tee shot down the middle, and your playing companions admire it with comments along the lines of, "That's only good if you like perfect!" Except it's not. Some du***ss before you took a divot the size of Montana and failed to replace it or fill it in with divot mix, leaving you muttering WTF and cursing your bad luck. The USGA has done a solid job in making the rules fairer and easier to understand but failing to include a divot as "ground under repair" is a failing in need of fixing. Like yesterday.
2. Cozying up to the beverage cart girl
Yes, you're absolutely right. That lovely 20-something young lady is absolutely in love with your 40-, 50-, 60-something pot-bellied self. Yeesh. It is perfectly fine to be polite and engage in conversation, but stop the overt flirting tactics and realize that the $10 tip you dropped to impress her is as helpful as setting money on fire. Stop being creepy, order a drink, chat for a moment, and drop her a couple of bucks for the effort. Proper, as the Brits might say.
3. Rangers who don't monitor pace of play
While we all love the beverage cart girl, we despise most rangers. Why? Because they tend to do absolutely nothing to help speed up play. They tend to drive up and say, "Everything OK?" before speeding off like Jimmie Johnson before you can utter a reply of protest. A number of years ago, at a course in the Myrtle Beach area, my group stood on the seventh tee close to two-and-a-half hours into our round. Flagging down the ranger, he had the audacity to say, "Yeah, a little bit of slow play on the back nine holding things up." Well, thanks for nothing.
4. Trees in the middle of the fairway
I know, I know. Pebble Beach has one on its 18th hole. TPC River Highlands on its 10th. These are PGA Tour courses, and there are probably about 100 other courses (including my home club) that have them as well. Congratulations. When this "architectural trait" is employed at so few courses, it's just plain dumb, bordering on jackassery. I see no reasonable argument for a well-struck shot to be so heavily penalized. I love trees. Just stay off my lawn—especially when that "lawn" is the fairway in the direct line of a perfect tee shot. Personal side note, a course I used to be a member at close to Lethbridge has one a massive tree about 15 yards in front of the green….I get the idea you like people shaping shots, but come-on-man….don't punish people for hitting it down the middle. The average person is already scoring in the mid 90's, and the game is challenging enough already!